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53 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, April 14, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 14, 2005 Salmon-fishing season will be shorter in 2005 By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune Following the most liberal salmon-fishing season in recent years, Southern Oregon ocean anglers will find 2005 to be a shorter season with chinook salmon off-limits during the majority of fishing’s best month. The Pacific Fishery Management Council has relegated the July part of the recreational season for Southern Oregon to just the first four days. The season would then close until mid-August before re-opening — removing what historically is the best salmon-fishing time for Southern Oregon ports like Brookings. Recreation and commercial seasons off the Southern Oregon and Northern California coasts were adopted earlier this month by the PFMC with an eye toward getting as many chinook into the Klamath River to spawn as necessary. The ports of Brookings and Gold Beach fall under the draft seasons for the Klamath Management Zone. The zone encompasses the waters from Humbug Mountain near Port Orford south to Horse Mountain near Manzanita, Calif. Advertisement The season opens May 21 and runs through July 4. After a six-week break, chinook fishing re-opens Aug. 14 and runs through Sept. 11. The limits remain two chinook a day, with a 24-inch minimum. However, last year’s return of hatchery coho salmon fishing off Southern Oregon did not return this year. Coho fishing will be allowed only north of Humbug Mountain, and the quota will be about half of last year’s Oregon coastal catch. The adopted framework for Southern Oregon waters offers chinook fishing in the ocean during all the summer holidays, a key element coastal fishing- related businesses believe they need to lure anglers from the Rogue Valley. The zone’s seasons are managed so that 36,000 chinook "escape" the various sport, commercial and tribal fishing seasons and spawn in the basin. Since Klamath fish mill around in the ocean with salmon from stronger basins like the Rogue and Chetco rivers, the ocean chinook have to be managed to protect the weakest fish stock. During last year’s season, which coast-wide was the best in 15 years, resulted in 10,000 fewer spawners in the Klamath. The Klamath Management Zone does not operate with a catch quota; the zone is given a number of fishing days based on catch so there are no mid-season closures like in past years. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg Distance Education Diamonds Slippers Student Loans afsa teleconferencing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Tatoo Fasa Advertisement s